Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1887-07-14

ness, A came TO the conclusion that Eustace
Rutland, being banished from his fatherfs
house and not being able to obtain from,
ms iather the funds necessary for his dis
reputable career, was taking advantage of
his sisters devoted affection for him. and
was in the habit of calling upon her to
supply him with money which. no doubt
the young lady did to the best of her abil-
ity. Curiosity led me 10 the task of en-
deayoTing To discover whether the alpha
betical letters aud the figures in the frame
work bore any relation to- this communi-
cation. With only the nine words cx-
posed through the pips OF the nine OF
hearts which had cut away, saw that
the first word, DEATH was the sixth
and the second word, ''stares," was the
second, and the third word, "me," was the
seventh. The sequence OF the figures,
therefore, was u, 2, Z. Now, how were
these three figures arranged in the frame
work. The figure q came after the letter
Nj, the figure came after the letter Y
the figure came after the letter III. Sat
isiied that had found the key, / begun to
study how these figures from to ., rep
rcSenting the nine words in the COM
munication and the nine OF hearts I'm the
playing card, were arranged in the frame
work IN such manner us to lead an in
formed person ut once to the solution
There must be a starting point with which
both Eustace and his sister Mabel were
acquainted. What was this starting
points One of the letters of the alphabet.
What letter. A. Starting, then. from A
in the framework, found that the figures
from | to ran thus: q, ., Z, 3, o, 1, A.,
o, .. Upon following, In this order, the
course of the words which were exposed
by the playing card with the nine pips cut
out, L came to the conclusion that / had
correctly Interpreted this first mystery
letter. was very pleased, believing that
the key had discovered would lead me to
correct reading of Eustace's second and
third letter to his sister.
So absorbed had / been in the unrayel-
ing of this mystery letter, which occupied
me good hour and n half, that had lost
sight during the whole of that time of the
two words which had at first enchanted
my attention - diamond bracelet {"
Death stares me in the face send money
INSTANTLY Ind appeared TO me so reason
able n construction to be placed upon the
communication of a man who must often
have been in n desperate strait for want of
funds, that the thought did not obtrude
itself that these words might he merely n
blind, and that, I'm the words that re-
manned after the oblitcration of this sem
tcncc, the correct solution was to be found
The longer i considered, the stronger be-
came my doubts; with diamond brace
LETT staring me in the face, felt that
had been following n Will-o' -the-wisp.
had asked DIR. Daincourt the date of
the dinner party at which Mr.. Rutland
had detected the absence of the diamond
bracelet on his daughters arm. That
date was the Sth of September. / exam
incd the postmGrk on the envelope of Eus-
tace Rutland's first communication; il
was the goth Of September. Mr. Rutland
had laid upon his daughter the injunction
that the diamond bracelet was to be
shown to him before the end OF the month
What MONTH September. She had pro-
duccd it I'm time, and her brothers. mis-
siVe must have conveyed to her some in
formation respecting the missing article
OF Jewclry. The citation of spirits in which
l had INDUCED took II flight; had not dis
covered the clcw
set myself again to work. felt now
rs man feels who is hunting out n great
mystery or great criminal, and upon the
success of whose endeavor his own safety
depends. IL seemed to me rs il il were
not so much Edward Layton's case as my
own IN which was engaged. Never in
the course of my career have / been so in
tcrested. | determined to set aside the
words, Death starcs me in the face, send
money instantly and to search, in the
words that remained, for the true mean
ing of Eustace Rutland's first conmuni-
cation. j copied them in the order i'm
which they were arranged, and they run
as follows: